This Day in History July 14, 1913

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On this date in 1913, the 38th president of the United States was born--Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was born in Omaha, Nebraska.  Originally, his name was Leslie Lynch King, Jr.  He did not formally change his name until 1935.  His mom had divorced and remarried.

Of course, Ford is known as the president who pardoned Nixon in the Watergate scandal--he was President Nixon's Vice-President.  Ford served as president from August 9, 1974 until 1977 when he lost the presidency to Jimmy Carter.  In spite of that, he and Carter were good friends throughout his life.

He died on December 26, 2006 at his home with his family around him.

I am not nor never have been a fan of President Ford, but I have to admit that I don't know everything about him and his presidency.  I was only about two months old when he became president, and I have not studied his presidency in any great detail.  I'll leave that to others--I have to admit I am not incredibly interested.  I was interested to discover that he was born the same year as my mom's dad (who passed away in 1995 from cancer).

For more information, please check out:
http://www.nndb.com/people/400/000022334/
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gerald_Ford
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/geraldford/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/gerald-r-ford.html